A Chart of Part of the Sea Coast of New South Wales on the East Coast of New Holland from Point Hicks to Black Head

Description

This map is one of four manuscript charts from the first great voyage of exploration by Captain James Cook, which in April 1770 made the first clear delineation of the east coast of Australia. Sponsored by the Royal Society and the Royal Navy, the expedition had several objectives. Cook was to observe and describe the transit of Venus, chart the coastlines of places he visited in the South Pacific, and record details of the peoples, flora, and fauna he saw. The expedition sponsors also hoped Cook would find and claim for Britain the land then known as terra incognita australis. Cook did not sail close to shore, except in a few places, so the amount of detail shown in the map varied with his ship’s distance from the coast.